


Ties that Bind

by junko



Series: Scatter and Howl [56]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Blow Jobs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 18:10:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8220251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: Renji wakes up to find Byakuya touching himself and offers to take over.





	

The sound, hardly more than a softly-hitched breath, woke Renji instantly. 

Renji tried to keep his body still not to betray the fact that he was awake. The embers in the irori had burned down and the grand, cherry wood sitting room was darkened and chilled. Heavy shadows circled the fire pit, like a cave. Cautiously, Renji glanced at where Byakuya had been sitting. 

He could hardly believe his eyes.

Byakuya lay sprawled out on the tatami, his yukata undone. Renji tried not to let his own breath catch at the sight of flawless pale skin, taut over muscle and sinew, especially when he noticed a hand working between spread and upraised knees. It didn’t take a genius to guess what had happened. Writing that detailed letter to Captain Ōtoribashi had turned Byakuya on. The only thing Renji couldn’t figure was why the hell Byakuya hadn’t woken him up so he could help out.

Just as Renji considered making his move, Byakuya let out that little noise again--so captivatingly vulnerable. 

Everything about his posture, his openness--the way his eyelashes fluttered even though his eyes were squeezed shut, the heat of a blush on his cheek, the way his mouth hung slightly open, the desperate clutch of hand, the stiff peaks of rosebud nipples, strong muscles tensing… well, Renji was starting to get what was so hot about watching.

Especially since he was hardly ever allowed to see Byakuya like this.

Look at him biting his lower lip now.. Goddamn that was hot!

As Renji lay there mesmerized, pearlescent precum dribbled from the glistening tip of Byakuya’s cock. Seeing it and smelling the pungent, musky odor of Byakuya’s arousal made Renji spring hard. 

He hungered to take that gorgeous cock into his mouth. 

In fact, at that very thought, Renji’s stomach growled.

Loudly.

The noise was so loud, in fact, that Byakuya’s eyes flew open and his hand’s steady rhythm faltered.

“Heh,” Renji chuckled bashfully. No longer bothering feigning sleep, he met Byakuya’s startled gaze. “That’s awkward.”

It was also an opportunity, Renji realized. Smoothly, he rolled over and positioned himself between Byakuya’s thighs. His hands gently stroked Byakuya’s upraised legs, coaxingly. Smiling up the length of Byakuya’s body, Renji asked, “You wouldn’t mind if I took over, would you?”

Byakuya seemed unable to speak, but he gave Renji a thin, ghost of a smile and a nod of approval. A second later, as though suddenly remembering, he removed his hand. 

Renji smiled wolfishly, and took a long, teasing lick along the shaft of Byakuya’s cock. “You were thinking about me, huh? All tied up, maybe?”

Letting his head fall back against the tatami, Byakuya groaned, his back arching with pleasure. “You know I was,” he snarled through clenched teeth.

“Well, I’m not tied up right now. And, it kind looks like you’re under my power,” Renji purred with no real threat, though he did take a wicked sort of pleasure in running his tongue down one side and then up again, slowly, torturously. 

Watching Byakuya squirm and desperately shove his hand in his mouth to keep from making noises made Renji's own cock ache. “I was doing a better job on my own, you useless baboon. Can’t you hurry things along?” Byakuya snarled.

Renji chuckled, tempted to make Byakuya squirm more, but, eh, he was hungry for it, anyway, wasn’t he? So he took Byakuya’s cock in his mouth and started working it. Even though it had been verboten in the past, Renji slipped a hand through the slit at the side of his hakama and let his fingers find his own hard, needy cock.

His mouth and hand fell into rhythm with one another, his whole body rocking to the same pace--Renji was sure he looked obscene, his ass thrusting up as though to meet an invisible partner, lips spread wide taking in as much of Byakuya as he could, sucking hard, desperately.

Byakuya panted now, breath coming fast. Despite the fact that he seemed to be leaving bite marks on his palm, noises escaped Byakuya’s throat that were sending bolts of pleasure straight to Renji’s crotch. 

What Renji could see of Byakuya was a mess, too--that look that always made Renji insane: sweaty, disheveled hair, free of the kenseikan, emotion… maybe not on that damn, impossible to crack mask, but in every other part of his body from the flush of skin, tensing muscles and barely controlled reiatsu that rattled the furniture and seemed determined to press Renji into more urgent action. Renji couldn’t help but notice how Byakuya kept his hands from Renji’s head. One he pressed to his mouth, the other white-knuckled the silk of his yukata. The reiatsu, too, skimmed along Renji’s body as if wanting to physically push him, but would veer away suddenly, as though two warring parts of Byakuya fought to… what?

_Respect._

It was a weird thought to push him over the top, but there it was. The idea that Byakuya was fighting with himself not to push Renji down made the pleasure that had been building crest and spurt out, hot and forceful. 

Maybe in reaction to his reaction, Byakuya suddenly filled Renji’s mouth. Riding the waves of his own orgasmic aftermath, Renji swallowed down everything Byakuya gave him. And it was a lot. A surprising lot for just a blowjob, but, hey, it had probably started out as a really good fantasy. Renji wondered what exactly it had been as he licked everything clean.

“Mmm,” a soft hand touched his topknot, “You really were hungry.”

Renji gave one last mischievous suck and then let Byakuya slip from his mouth. “Starving.”

Byakuya’s smile was tired, soft, fond. Then, he seemed to noticed something and his fingers shot out and tugged the ribbon from Renji’s hair. 

It came down in a cascade, momentarily blinding him and covering Byakuya’s stomach and thighs.

“This is mine,” Byakuya said, holding up the ribbon. “You took it from me. Why?”

Renji pulled himself up from the spot between Byakuya’s legs, ignoring the cooling, sticky wet in his own hakama. “Uh… I didn’t know it was important, okay?” Pulling his hair from his face, Renji wiped his mouth. “I couldn’t find my hair tie and I’d left my clothes in your quarters, so… uh, shit, yeah, that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t’ve touched your stuff. Sorry, man.”

Sitting up, Byakuya tugged roughly at the hem of his yukata to cover himself. “This was… I wore this when I was a child. I’m… unreasonably protective of it,” Byakuya said as though to try to explain his sudden shift in mood. His voice was still tight, angry, but it was clear he was fighting this too, for Renji’s sake. “It was stolen from me regularly by that devil cat.”

“Yoruichi?” Even though Byakuya made no secret of his past with the Lady Shihōin, it never ceased to surprise Renji. 

Byakuya seemed tight-lipped about it, and, even though Renji still couldn’t quite understand it, it was clear that Byakuya was seriously upset about that ribbon.

Renji tugged his hair back again, only to have it flop forward into his eyes. He glanced at the leg of his hakama wondering if he could cut off a piece of the black silk. He almost considered it, but then remembered he wasn’t in the Eleventh any more. No way would Byakuya be okay with a ragged hem like that. Anyway, silk wasn’t working so well no more. His hair was too thick, too heavy. “I dunno. I’m going to have to find something stronger, or, maybe I should just cut it all off or--”

“No,” Byakuya said sharply. “That is unacceptable.”

“Um, okay?” Renji sat all the way up now. He smiled to himself. It wasn’t like it was some secret that Byakuya had a thing for Renji’s hair, but Renji didn’t think he could fight like this with his hair down--it wasn’t professional… or practical. “But, so what do you propose? Your tie worked, but I’ve been snapping my usual string. You’d think silk wouldn’t tear, but my hair is getting of out of control.”

Byakuya stood up and tied his yukata. “Iron. Or steel. We’ll have it forged by the same people who made the kenseikan.” He seemed to consider this as he tied the knot in the obi, “Yes, and there’ll a pin for a lock. Something only I can work.”

“Wait, what?” Renji started to laugh, but Byakuya’s face was impossible to read in the semi-darkness. “You’re not serious.”

Byakuya’s cheeks flushed a little. He looked away, towards the bedroom. “It is… a fantasy.”

“To have my hair under lock and key?” Renji scratched his nose. “That’s sexy? Having me having to come bug you for the key anytime I need to wash my hair?”

“Well,” Byakuya coughed a little. “Beg, not bug. That would be sexier.”

Huh, okay. Renji kind of got it now. It was the whole power-over thing that Byakuya was into. Begging was clearly part of that deal. Renji guessed it really wasn’t that different than the games they usually played, albeit a bit more… day-to-day, more… owning. But, he said it was just a fantasy… so…. “Huh,” Renji said. Byakuya was watching him closely so Renji gave him a little grin. “I think I really need to read that letter you wrote Captain Ōtoribashi.”

“Mmmm,” Byakuya nodded. “You might as well take it with you when you go in the morning. I don’t know if I can stand to have you read it in front of me. And, I’m certainly not up for round two just yet--if it affects you the way it did me.”

Renji nodded his head in acknowledgement. His hair fell in his face again, making him feel guilty about the ribbon Byakuya held clutched in his fist. It’d been a long time since Renji had stolen something so casually like that. As he stood, he rubbed his palms on his hakama, as though trying to wipe off the last of whatever Inuzuri impulse had made him into a thief again. A petty thief, no less. Fuck. “I’m really sorry about the ribbon,” he said, trying to decide if he should go all formal and give Byakuya a deep bow. His head went down automatically and his fists clenched at his sides. “I… don’t know what came over me.”

Byakuya waved him off. “It is not unreasonable that you might feel you have borrowing privileges, Renji. I… it is as I said: my attachment to this particular object is… excessive.”

“No, I really shouldn’t take shit off your dresser without asking,” Renji said.

“It’s a bit of ribbon,” Byakuya insisted. He walked into the bedroom and, passing his mother’s tansu, set it on the wooden surface. His hand rested beside it, as though it was difficult to let it go, even this much. “You must understand, however, it was stolen from me many times, to teach me… a lesson I was loathe to learn. To have won it back was an important victory for me. I swore it would never leave my possession again.”

“Cripes,” Renji breathed feeling miserable. “I had no idea.”

“No, of course you didn’t,” Byakuya said. “How could you?” Removing his hand finally, Byakuya turned to give Renji a long look. “It’s a bit of ribbon. It should be nothing special. But even if it were gold, if you needed it, I would have you consider it yours to take without asking.”

Renji shook his head and all but backed-up a step. “That ain’t gonna work.”

“Why not?” Byakuya asked, turning to face him. They stood at the threshold of the master bedroom. Anxious to get out of his soiled hakama, Renji had started to undress. “Renji, I would make you my spouse. What’s mine is already yours.”

“I get what you’re saying, I really do,” Renji said, kicking free of the hakama’s silks and starting on the ties of his kosode. As he worked the tiny strings loose, Renji considered leaving the conversation there. But, the casual unthinking way he’d gone back to old habits really unsettled him. “Thing is, it can’t be that way for me.”

Byakuya seemed taken aback. Concerned, he carefully watched Renji as he let the kosode drop to the floor and started in on the shitagi. After a long moment, he said, “I don’t understand.”

The silk came loose from Renji’s shoulders. Byakuya could see them now, the tattoos, so Renji pointed to the two stripes on his lower biceps, the two circles that went all the way around his arms. “Remember, I been marked as a thief. I can’t go around taking stuff. What if someone said something about it? Someone like Aunt Masama.”

Byakuya’s jaw tightened as his gaze focused on the ink. They’d talked about this in the Human World once, briefly. Byakuya had rolled with it then, but his posture was stiff now, as if suddenly seeing these particular tattoos for what they really were.

How dangerous they were. 

“And you hid them,” Byakuya said, his face going all stony all of a sudden. “Illegally.”

Renji had no defense for that one. Byakuya was right. It was extremely illegal to disguise or obfuscate punishment tattoos. Renji’d had to pay through the nose for the silence of the tattooist who’d done it for him.

Byakuya’s lips were a thin, dangerous line. Thunder rolled ominously in the distance. “This is a threat to your lieutenancy, to our legitimacy. How did it even happen? The Academy questionnaire is very explicit about a criminal record. Did you simply leave that section blank or did you deliberately answer untruthfully?”

“What questionnaire?” Renji scoffed. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Nobody gave me a questionnaire. I couldn’t have filled it out, even if they had. I couldn’t read. When I arrived at the Academy gates, I didn’t even know the characters for my own name.” 

He glanced up at Byakuya, who at least looked a little chagrined that he’d forgotten that, as well. “I’ll tell you how it went at the Academy gate. It was pretty simple,” Renji said. “The guards there asked me my name. They asked me if I could write it down. When I said I couldn’t, they asked me where I was from. After I said ‘Inuzuri, 78th South,’ they looked at my shoes. Then they asked me if I could take a hit, if I was a fighter. So I showed them my fists and told them I’d take any of them on right there, if that was what it took to get in. Then, they had me make one of those Kidō balls and I nearly blew the whole place sky high. Nobody asked me if I’d ever done time. Nobody asked me if I had any tattoos. But, they knew I was a thief.”

“Oh, and how is that?”

“I told ya, they looked at my shoes. The fact I had any meant I stole them.”

When Renji looked at him again, Byakuya’s posture had softened. “I see. It was something like this that you were marked for? Stealing clothes?” Then Byakuya shook his head as if answering his own question, “No, you told me this. It had something to do with a teahouse. A kidnapping?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Renji nodded. “I went after…” he couldn’t say Rukia, could he? 

“Your friends, yes.” Byakuya seemed to consider this for a moment. Turning his back to Renji, he made his way into the bedroom, to the bed. Uncovering the lantern, he sat. All of Byakuya’s movements were thoughtful and deliberate, as if he were still weighing everything Renji had told him.

Uncertain if he were invited to join, Renji stood at the threshold to the master bedroom, waiting.

They’d talked about this once, this shouldn’t be a shock, but maybe Byakuya had been able to roll with it before because he hadn’t been really looking at the tattoos when they’d talked. Maybe it had gone easier then because everything had been out of context, in the Human World, and now that they were back here--well, maybe it felt different to Byakuya because this was where they lived. It was no longer just the ‘idea’ that Renji was a thief, but something that had happened here, here where Byakuya made all those promises about upholding the law.

_This could be it, Renji_ thought to himself. Mr. Noble Reason had put up with a lot of unsavory stories about Inuzuri, but maybe this time they were all coming to a head. Maybe this was the end of Renji’s commission. He might have to walk out of here with more than just the loss of a boyfriend. 

Which meant maybe it was time to tell the whole story. Then, even if Byakuya sent him down to court martial, at least he’d know the truth.

Renji had started to open his mouth, when Byakuya pointed to the spot on his own arms where Renji’s tattoos would be, “Your theft. It was justified?”

Renji nodded. “Totally. Hell, I’d do it again tomorrow, no hesitation. Except now I’d murder the fuckers. You’d’ve done it, too.”

Byakuya seemed shocked by this, his eyes narrowed. “You can’t be certain of such a bold claim.”

“Actually, I can.” When Byakuya looked ready to protest, he said, “It was Rukia. Rukia was what I tried to steal back from the yakuza.”

“Rukia?” Everything shifted in Byakuya now. He sat straighter, his eyes focused widely on Renji. “You never said that before. You said ‘friends.’”

“Yeah, well… that part was awkward,” Renji leaned against the doorframe, wishing he was tucked up under the covers. “For one, it’s not my story to tell. It’s Rukia’s.”

“Tell me everything again, from the start,” Byakuya demanded.

Renji could see the thing he’d been trying to avoid by keeping Rukia’s name out of this story reflected in Byakuya’s eyes: protective older brother.

“There ain’t nobody left to kill, just remember that,” Renji said, though he wasn’t sure that was true. Probably someone from that mob family was still around. Sure, they tended to have short brutish lives, but family names lived on. Hell, they might even have connections to Kuchiki teahouses for all Renji knew. But, that wasn’t something he should probably touch on. Yeah, best not to make too much of what they’d taken Rukia and Ozuru for. Renji tugged on his ear. “I remember it was hot that night, that was partly why we weren’t sleeping all together. Normally, we stuck close, ‘cuz it was safer. Harder for kidnappers to get one of us without waking the whole lot, see? But, it was humid, too, swampy--nobody wanted to touch anybody they didn’t have to, and, anyway, Rukia and me, we’d come into our power. We kind of thought we were tough enough just with our wobbly little spiritual pressure.” At that point Renji shrugged, “I told you the rest of how this went down.”

Byakuya had been listening intently, though now he frowned down at his hands, which were clasped in his lap. “Tell me again.”

Byakuya’s voice was too tight, too angry. Renji shook his head. “This isn’t a good idea.”

“Tell me again, Renji.”

Renji let out a breath. “No,” he said firmly. “You can’t do anything about it any more, Byakuya. The dust is settled and graves have been dug. The crimes all got tallied up and paid for. This ledger is closed; there ain’t no more accounting to be done.”

Byakuya stood up slowly. His hands clenched into fists. “Rukia. Did they hurt her?”

Renji had never asked. There’re some things a woman gets to own so completely that a man just has to wait to be told, to be let in. And if she doesn’t say, it ain’t your business. After all, she’d given him the same space--never commenting on the tattoos or asking about the beating. But, how to explain that to someone like Byakuya? “Rukia fought them at every turn,” Renji said instead. “We were only able to pick up her trail because of the scorch marks she left behind. That woman takes no shit. You ought to know that about your sister. She’s as tough as they come. She was halfway to escaped by the time I showed my ugly mug.”

Ironically, had Renji and the Abarai crew stayed out of it, she’d probably have made her way back to them--Ozuru in tow. As it was, she was able to make her escape, duck out before the authorities showed up and started looking through the rubble for someone to blame. Renji didn’t mind paying for his stupidity. He’d gotten his friends killed, after all. He hated being branded a thief because he’d taken nothing, and he sure as shit didn’t see Rukia as anyone’s property. But that was how fucked up the law was. To the magistrate’s office, it didn’t matter that the yakuza had kidnapped Rukia, once they had her, she belong to them. She was their property. 

And trying to free her made Renji a thief.

Yeah, he’d taken those marks and blurred them. He might have stolen everything he ever owned, but what he did that day wasn’t theft. He wasn’t going to wear no shame for that day. Other days, yeah, but not that one.

Only reason he didn’t have the marks burned off his skin was because he needed to remember that his weakness had gotten his gang killed. He could never forget, never afford to be that weak again. And making them into Zabimaru’s stripes? Yeah, that was right, because Zabimaru was his strength.

Deep in his gut, Zabimaru howled.

Meanwhile, Byakuya’s fists had begun to shake. “I asked you a question; you didn’t answer it. Did those bastards hurt Rukia?”

Byakuya looked like he’d already made up his mind. A dark part of Renji wanted to point out that maybe he wouldn't be so upset right now, if he wasn’t so intimately acquainted with the sort of ugly-ass shit that went down in teahouses for fun and profit. 

And what was Byakuya even going to do if Renji knew enough one way or the other to say ‘yes’? No one in the 74th District was even going to remember that night. It wasn’t like the magistrates kept written records, not that far down. Most cops couldn’t read or write any more than the rest of them. The trail was cold.

So, Renji lied. He said what Byakuya needed to hear. “I was her big brother then. You think I’d let them?”

Fuck if that wasn’t entirely ass-backwards, that Rukia was far more the big sister to the whole gang. But, Renji’s bluster and bravado was having the right effect on Byakuya. His hands slowly unclenched. The fire in his eyes quenched. 

“Yes,” Byakuya said, nodding, as though to convince himself of it. “Yes, of course you were there for her. Look at the price you paid. You protected her at the risk of your life and limb.”

“Damn straight,” Renji said. “That’s why I’m so sure you’d’ve done the same.”

The remaining tension seemed to evaporate at that. Byakuya let out a small breath. “You should have told me this before.”

Renji snorted a scoff. “Look at how ‘nii-sama’ you got just now, you think I should have mentioned all this when we were in the Human World and you could’ve run off and confronted Rukia about it? No, she’d’ve killed me. Hell, she still might. This ain’t exactly either of our finest moments, you know? It was a raging clusterfuck and our friends died that night. Maybe you could keep this on the QT?”

Byakuya had turned around and begun sorting out the bed, fluffing pillows and arranging blankets. “I’m not sure how I would even broach such a subject to Rukia.”

“Good,” Renji said. He thought maybe it might be okay to come into the room now, but he still hesitated. That had mostly managed to be a heated conversation more than a fight, but… well, he never knew with Byakuya. Maybe it was best if he grabbed his clothes and gave Byakuya some time to process everything. “Say… uh….” Renji started, and when Byakuya didn’t turn around, he pushed on. “You… need some time? I can, you know, sleep in my own bunk or whatever. I got to do this whole bullshit with the Second tomorrow, so maybe it’d be for the best…?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Byakuya said. “Sleep here. It’s warmer by far, I think it’s starting to rain, and, moreover, I feel oddly compelled to attempt to comfort you.”

‘Oddly compelled’? Wow. Byakuya sure knew how to sweet-talk a guy. “Gee, yeah, okay. A proposition like that’s hard to resist.”

“Your sarcasm is duly noted,” Byakuya said, though without any real heat. “You know I’m terrible at these things, but your letter….” He let out a breath of frustration. “It distresses me to know that I am so completely incompetent at the one thing you would like more of in our relationship. I should… practice.”

Renji didn’t need any more invitation than that. Making his way to the bed, he snuggled in under the covers. 

Before joining him, Byakuya stood over the bed. “We must also resolve the matter of the ribbon. It started this whole confession of yours, some of which I may have reacted badly to, but I want to make something clear. We cannot have this foolish divide over what is yours and what is mine, Renji Abarai. Anything that is mine is automatically also yours. You’re not a thief, if you borrow from your family.”

Family. 

Byakuya really meant that. It was clear by the way he was looking at Renji, he wasn’t just saying something to end a fight. He was serious. Dead serious.

“Aw, c’mere,” Renji said, opening his arms. “I’ll totally take that hug now.”

Byakuya’s face twitched a little, as though to steel himself. Dutifully and somewhat stiffly, he got into bed and pressed himself into Renji’s arms. It was kind of pathetic, really, how obviously uncomfortable Byakuya was. Renji gently closed his arms around Byakuya’s shoulders and kissed his forehead. “Not so bad, is it?”

“Depends,” Byakuya admitted. “On how long it lasts.”

“You know I’m just going to glom on you in the middle of the night.”

“Yes, but I’ve grown use to that,” Byakuya said. He was so still, Renji wasn’t sure Byakuya was remembering to breathe.

“So you’re just going to have to get used to snuggling,” Renji teased, but he let go. “We’ll build up to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I broke through my block! Yay!
> 
> Thanks for waiting for me. And, thanks to Josey (cestus) for holding my hand and, of course, beta'ing this.


End file.
